1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compaction and molding of plastic explosives and is directed more particularly to a press for compacting such plastic explosives.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the production of shaped charges and explosive formed penetrators (EFP), thin strips of plastic explosives are manually packed into a mold, utilizing wood dowels and brass hammers. Manual packing is utilized for safety reasons, namely avoidance of heat and sparks in the packing process. Such process is necessarily tedious and slow. Further, the plastic explosive often is over or under compacted.
There is a need to standardize the compactive effort for more uniform compaction. There is further a need for compaction in a more time-efficient manner.